Carding machines

ABSTRACT

A carding machine comprising a card cylinder and a doffer each peripherally wound with toothed wire arranged as a series of parallel closed-spaced, preferably circular, rings, the rings of toothed wire on the doffer being offset in axial direction with respect to the rings of toothed wire on the card cylinder and the teeth of the rings of toothed wire on the doffer intruding into the spaces between the rings of toothed wire on the card cylinder to remove fibers which might otherwise collect in said spaces.

United States Patent Ling [4 1 Apr. 11, 1972 541 CARDING MACHINES 1,630,158 5/1927 Allen ..19/97 2,388,631 11/1945 Bokum ..l9/l12 X [72] Inventor: Wei Tslng Ling, 9 Gramp1on Road, 4th

floor, Kowloon, Hong Kong Filed: 1970 Primary Examiner-Dorsey Newton [21] App1.No.: 4,567 Att0rneyCushman,Darby&Cushman [30] Foreign Application Priority Data [57] ABSTRACT Jan. 21, 1969 Great Britain ..3,402/69 A carding machine comprising a card cylinder and a doffer each peripherally wound with toothed wire arranged as a se- (g1 19810112, ries of parallel closedfipacedy preferably circuar rings, the [58] Fie'ld 106 rings of toothed wire on the doffer being offset in axial o l direction with respect to the rings of toothed wire on the card cylinder and the teeth of the rings of toothed wire on the dotfer intruding into the spaces between the rings of toothed [56] References Cited wire on the card cylinder to remove fibers which might other- UNlTED STATES PATENTS wise collect in said spaces.

46,120 1/1865 Lord et a1. 19/106 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures 30, 41%; i L 3o,4a- 7 PATENTEDAPFI 11 I972 3. 654.667

sum 3 OF 3 By [kw/MM, MMW'MM Arm/VH5 CARDING MACHINES This invention relates to carding machines, e.g., as used in the spinning industry.

In known carding machines both the card cylinder and the doffer are closely helically wound around their peripheries with toothed, e.g., saw-toothed, wire. The gauge distance, i.e., the clearance, between the tips of the teeth of the doffer and the tips of the teeth of the card cylinder is kept as small as possible, usually about 0.005 inch, so as to insure maximum doffing effect without collisions occurring between the teeth of the doffer and the teeth of the card cylinder. A disadvantage which occurs with these known machines is that some of the fibers being carded tend to collect in the interstices between the turns of toothed wire on the card cylinder where they not only interfere with the carding action but may also give rise to neps in the sliver.

The present invention has as its object to enable to aforesaid disadvantages to be overcome or mitigated, and thus to improve the doffing effect.

To this end the invention provides a carding machine wherein the card cylinder and the doffer are each peripherally wound with toothed wire arranged as a series of parallel closely-spaced rings, the rings of toothed wire on the doffer being offset in axial direction with respect to the rings of toothed wire on the card cylinder so that the teeth of the rings of toothed wire on the doffer intrude into the spaces between the rings of toothed wire on the card cylinder to remove fibers which might otherwise collect in said spaces.

Preferably the said rings of toothed wire are circular rings each of which lies in a plane at right-angles to the axis of the card cylinder or doffer.

The rings of toothed wire on the doffer should be of the same pitch as the rings of toothed wire on the card cylinder and should lie in planes which intersect the axes of the card cylinder and doffer at the same angle. To ensure that the pitch of the rings of toothed wire remains constant and to facilitate the winding of the rings the peripheries of both the card cylinder and the doffer may be provided with a series of parallel annular grooves according with the required pitch of the toothed wire rings and adapted to seat said rings.

To enable the doffer and the card cylinder each to be wound with a single length of toothed wire in conventional manner each pair of adjacent annular grooves of the doffer and card cylinder may be connected by a short cross-groove, e.g., extending in the axial direction of the doffer or card cylinder, which serves as a shunt for passing the wire from one annular groove to the next. Thus, when winding the toothed wire onto either the doffer or the card cylinder one end of the wire may be secured in the first annular groove thereof at or adjacent the cross-groove connecting said first annular groove to its next adjacent annular groove, the wire then wound round the first annular groove to form the first ring of toothed wire, the wire passed along the cross-groove to the next adjacent annular groove, the wire wound round said next adjacent annular groove to form the second ring of toothed wire, and so on until the winding of the doffer or card cylinder is complete. Although the cross-grooves between different adjacent pairs of annular grooves of the doffer or card cylinder may be offset with respect to one another, far ease of manufacture it is preferred that a single cross-groove be provided which extends across and connects all of the annular grooves of the doffer or card cylinder. Said single cross-groove preferably extends parallel to the axis of the dofier or card cylinder, although it could be inclined at an angle to the axis of the doffer or card cylinder if desired, e.g., could follow a helical path. To prevent collisions between the teeth of the toothed wire wound on the doffer and that wound on the card cylinder due to the passing of the toothed wire along said cross-groove from one annular groove to the next, the teeth are removed from the toothed wire where it passes along said cross-grooves.

In addition to the usual adjustment means for adjusting the center distance between the doffer and the card cylinder,

means may be provided whereby the doffer can be adjusted axially so as to align the rings of toothed wire thereon with the spaces between the rings of toothed wire on the card cylinder. To this end the bearings of the doffer may incorporate screw means or be adjustable by screw means to enable the doffer to be adjusted axially.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of a carding machine according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional plan view of the card cylinder and doffer on the line IIII of FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary end view of the card cylinder and doffer of FIG. 1,

FIGS. 4 and 5 are a fragmentary end view and a fragmentary side view showing the manner in which toothed wire is wound on the card cylinder and doffer, and

FIGS. 6 and 7 are an end view and side view respectively of the doffer bearings.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings it will be seen that the carding machine of the invention comprises a card cylinder 1 and a doffer 2. The fibers, e.g., cotton fibers, 9 to be carded are led from a lap 9a by a lap roller 10, feed plate 11, feed roller 12 and licker-in 13 to the card cylinder 1. The card cylinder 1 rotates in the direction of arrow A and carries the fibers 9 (indicated by dot-dot-dash chain lines) to the revolving flats 14 where the fibers are carded in conventional manner. The carded fibers are then removed from the card cylinder 1 by the doffer 2, which rotates in the direction of arrow B, and are carried by the doffer 2 to the output end of the machine where they are stripped from the doffer by stripper l5 and passed into sliver can 16 for further processing.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 2 to 5 of the drawings it will be seen that the card cylinder 1 and doffer 2 are wound with toothed wire 3, 4 respectively, in each case arranged as a series of parallel closely-spaced circular rings, the teeth of the rings of toothed wire 4 on the doffer 2 intruding into the spaces between the rings of toothed wire 3 on the card cylinder 1 so as to remove fibers which otherwise might collect in said spaces.

The rings of toothed wire 4 on the doffer 2 are of the same pitch as the rings of toothed wire 3 on the card cylinder 1. To ensure that the pitch of the rings of toothed wire 3, 4 remains constant and to facilitate the winding of the rings of toothed wire, the peripheries of the card cylinder 1 and the doffer 2 are respectively provided with a series of parallel annular grooves 5, 6 according with the required pitch of the toothed wire rings and adapted to seat said rings. Thus each ring of toothed wire will follow its own circular track when the card cylinder 1 and doffer 2 are rotated.

To enable the card cylinder 1 and the doffer 2 each to be wound with a single length of toothed wire in conventional manner each pair of annular grooves 5 or 6 of the card cylinder 1 or doffer 2 are connected by a cross-groove, e.g., extending in the axial direction of the card cylinder or doffer, which serves as a shunt for passing the wire from one annular groove 5 or 6 to the next. Although the cross-grooves between different adjacent pairs of annular grooves 5 or 6 may be offset with respect to one another, in the illustrated embodiment the cross-grooves between different adjacent pairs of annular grooves 5 or 6 are embodied in a single cross-groove 7 which extends across and connects all of the annular grooves 5 or 6 of the card cylinder 1 or doffer 2 as the case may be. When winding the toothed wire onto either the card cylinder 1 or the doffer 2 one end 3b or 4b of the wire is secured in the first annular groove 5 or 6 at or adjacent the cross-groove 7 and the wire wound round the first annular groove to form the first circular ring of toothed wire, the wire then passed by way of the cross-groove 7 to the next adjacent annular groove 5 or 6 as shown in FIG. 5, the wire wound round said next adjacent annular groove 5 or 6 to form the second circular ring of toothed wire, and so on until the winding of the card cylinder or doffer is complete. To prevent collisions between the teeth of the toothed wire 3 on the card cylinder 1 with the teeth of the toothed wire 4 on the doffer 2 due to the passing of the toothed wire along said cross-grooves 7, the teeth are removed from the toothed wire 3, 4 where it passes along the crossgroove 7 as shown at 30, 4a in FIG. 5.

In addition to the usual adjustment means for adjusting the center distance between the doffer 2 and the card cylinder 1, means is provided whereby the doffer 2 can be adjusted axially so as to align the rings of toothed wire 4 thereon with the spaces between the rings of toothed wire 3 on the card cylinder 1. Such adjustment means are shown generally at 8 in FIGS. 6 and 7. As will be seen the doffer 2 is carried by a shaft 17 mounted for rotation in end bearings 18. Each bearing 18 is connected to a pair of brackets 19 through the medium of screw-adjusters 20, the brackets 19 being secured to frame members 21 of the carding machine. In addition each bearing 18 is bolted to a frame member 21 by bolts 22 which pass through the bearing and through slots (not shown) in the frame members 21. When it is desired to adjust the doffer 2 axially the nuts a of the screw-adjusters 20 and the nuts 22a of the bolts 22 are loosened, the doffer 2 and its end bearings 18 adjusted axially, and the doffer 2 and its end bearings 18 locked in adjusted position by re-tightening the nuts 20a on either side of the brackets 19 and the nuts 22a.

When setting up the machine for use the doffer 2 is, if necessary, adjusted axially so that the toothed wire rings 4 thereof are aligned with the spaces between the rings of toothed wire 3 on the card cylinder 1 and the center distance between the doffer 2 and the card cylinder 1 is then adjusted so that the teeth of the toothed wire rings 4 of the doffer 2 intrude into the spaces between the toothed wire rings 3 of the card cylinder 1, e.g., to a depth of about 0.01 inch, as shown most clearly on an enlarged scale in FIGS. 2 and 3. Since each ring of toothed wire 3, 4 follows its own circular track and the rings of toothed wire 4 of the doffer 2 are axially offset with respect to the rings of toothed wire 3 of the card cylinder 1 there is no danger of the teeth of the toothed wire 4 on the doffer 2 colliding with the teeth of the toothed wire 3 on the card cylinder 1 and as the teeth of the toothed wire 4 on the doffer 2 actually intrude into the spaces between the rings of toothed wire 3 on the card cylinder 1, fibers which might otherwise tend to collect in said spaces are dislodged and the doffing effect improved.

What is claimed is: v

l. A carding machine comprising a card cylinder and a doffer cylinder, the card cylinder having a series of parallel annular grooves formed perpendicular to the cylinder axis in the peripheral surface thereof; a series of annular rings of toothed wire wound from a single length of toothed wire onto the said cylinder and seated in the said grooves, and a cross-groove connecting each pair of adjacent annular grooves and serving as a shunt for the passage of the length of toothed wire from one annular groove to the next when the card cylinder is being wound with the length of toothed wire the teeth of said wire being removed within said cross groove.

2. A carding machine according to claim 1 wherein the doffer has a series of parallel annular grooves formed perpendicular to the doffer axis in the peripheral surface thereof and a series of annular rings of toothed wire wound from a single length of toothed wire onto the doffer to seat in the said grooves, and a cross-groove in the said peripheral surface of the doffer which serves as a shunt for the passage of the length of toothed wire from one annular groove to the next when the doffer is being wound with the length of toothed wire the teeth of said wire being removed within said cross-groove.

3. A carding machine comprising a card cylinder and a doffer cylinder having parallel axes, said cylinders each having a series of parallel annular grooves formed in its peripheral surface perpendicular to its axis; a series of annular rings of toothed wire wound from a single length of toothed wire onto the said card cylinder and seated in the said grooves thereof and across-groove in said card cylinder connectin each pair of ad acent annular grooves therein the teeth 0 said wire being removed within said cross-groove; a series of annular rings of toothed wire wound from a single length of toothed wire onto the said doffer cylinder and seated in the annular grooves thereof and a cross groove in said doffer cylinder connecting each pair of adjacent annular grooves therein the teeth of said wire being removed within said cross-groove; the teeth of the rings of toothed wire on the doffer cylinder intrud ing into the spaces between the rings of toothed wire on the card cylinder.

4. A carding machine according to claim 3, having end bearings in which the doffer is mounted for rotation, and screw means for adjusting said bearings and thereby the doffer for precise location in the axial direction. 

1. A carding machine comprising a card cylinder and a doffer cylinder, the card cylinder having a series of parallel annular grooves formed perpendicular to the cylinder axis in the peripheral surface thereof; a series of annular rings of toothed wire wound from a single length of toothed wire onto the said cylinder and seated in the said grooves, and a cross-groove connecting each pair of adjacent annular grooves and serving as a shunt for the passage of the length of toothed wire from one annular groove to the next when the card cylinder is being wound with the length of toothed wire the teeth of said wire being removed within said cross groove.
 2. A carding machine according to claim 1 wherein the doffer has a series of parallel annular grooves formed perpendicular to the doffer axis in the peripheral surface thereof and a series of annular rings of toothed wire wound from a single length of toothed wire onto the doffer to seat in the said grooves, and a cross-groove in the said peripheral surface of the doffer which serves as a shunt for the passage of the length of toothed wire from one annular groove to the next when the doffer is being wound with the length of toothed wire the teeth of said wire being removed within said cross-groove.
 3. A carding machine comprising a card cylinder and a doffer cylinder having parallel axes, said cylinders each having a series of parallel annular grooves formed in its peripheral surface perpendicular to its axis; a series of annular rings of toothed wire wound from a single length of toothed wire onto the said card cylinder and seated in the said grooves thereof and a cross-groove in said card cylinder connecting each pair of adjacent annular grooves therein the teeth of said wire being removed within said cross-groove; a series of annular rings of toothed wire wound from a single length of toothed wire onto the said doffer cylinder and seated in the annular grooves thereof and a cross groove in said doffer cylinder connecting each pair of adjacent annular grooves therein the teeth of said wire being removed within said cross-groove; the teeth of the rings of toothed wire on the doffer cylinder intruding into the spaces between the rings of toothed wire on the card cylinder.
 4. A carding machine according to claim 3, having end bearings in which the doffer is mounted for rotation, and screw means for adjusting said bearings and thereby the doffer for precise location in the axial direction. 